Recently I heard someone make a funny comment about blogs. They said that every time they’d ever seen a blogger write a post saying that there were going to start posting more often, it never happened. I suspect that I am guilty of that myself. Not so much in this space, where I seem to have a compulsive need to spew my thoughts out over the keyboard, but much more so on my History blog. However, as much as it might not work that blogging about the need to blog more does not actually inspire one to blog more frequently, I believe that blogging about goals can introduce a level of accountability that really can work. For example, an exercise blog that I participated in a few years ago is what got me into shape after my leg surgery.
So this afternoon I just made some calculations about the biggest looming-out-there goal that I need to accomplish. I want to finish my dissertation. Sooner rather than later. By that, I mean that I want to finish it by my next birthday. At the end of May. I have all kinds of motivation to do so. There’s that UCI tution that’s costing me $12,000 per year. There’s the knowing that the longer it takes to finish, the less likely it is that I will finish. There’s that wild crazy dream of have of putting those little letters by name to show that I finished. And, there are these history stories that I’ve been wanting to tell for too many years now.
So….my rough calculations tell me that I have 45 weeks to knock this thing out. I think I can do it. I’ve just learned what I can accomplish in One Week, and now I have 45 of those!
But can you help me? Can you offer advice and ask me how things are going? I’m going to post many of my daily and weekly goals on Twitter. If you hang out in that space, can you follow along and give me some support?
7 comments
I want to finish by Christmas. So let's encourage each other!
heck yes!
Excellent. I'm sure within the next 45 weeks I will start my first grant proposal – so we can work together!
worthy–and achievable–goal. I will check in virtually, and in person. Hard to hide from someone knocking at your door…
Go Jana go!
If you encourage me on the novel manuscript, I promise to encourage you on the disseratation!
Encouragement: 45 weeks is totally possible!! Cheerleading from here! Advice: Have a serious talk with yourself about perfectionism. The very qualities that push us toward a Ph.D. are also ones that can be self-defeating if carried too far. And finally, give yourself permission to keep an irregular schedule. If I was having an "on" writing day, I would write and write, through the night, into the next day, then sleep for 12 hours.
I'm in your corner!